On Sunday morning, Americans awoke to racist remarks President Trump made on Twitter, which singled out progressive women of color in Congress and attacked them with xenophobic clichés.
“So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe … now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run,” the president wrote. “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came … I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!”
Though he did not mention them by name, Trump was undoubtedly alluding to Democratic representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. In the hours after Trump hit “publish tweet” on his racist tirade, the congresswomen, each a social media force in her own right, mounted strong condemnations of Trump’s remarks, flipping his rhetoric around by pointing out that he himself is a national catastrophe. All four congresswomen are American citizens, and three of them were born in the United States.
Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet thread addressed to Trump: “you’ve destroyed our border with inhumane camps, all at a benefit to you & the corps who profit off them.” She continued, “You are angry because you can’t conceive of an America that includes us …. You rely on a frightened America for your plunder.”
In her response, Tlaib characterized Trump as a “crisis” and brought up impeachment for good measure.
Omar hit back hard, calling Trump “the worst, most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen,” adding, “You are stoking white nationalism.” She ended her response with a quote from James Baldwin, implying that the president himself — his ideological grip on the country — is in crisis.
Ayanna Pressley wasted no words:
On Monday, Trump renewed his attacks, referring to the congresswomen as the “Radical Left” and demanding apologies for the “foul language they’ve used,” clearly eager to continue riling up his supporters.
